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The Conference Bike
gomaze writes "If you are like me, you don't look forward to conference meetings. Until now. We are going to be getting a Conference Bike. They even have a movie on how you can find love with the bike, very interesting. Great way for everyone to get out of the office and still get work done."
I've seen them on the sidewalks/boardwalks here in San Diego. They're huge, and take up plenty of space. I can't imagine they're allowed to go on the streets. Odd how the video doesn't show anyone wearing a helmet, when even Segway clips show people in helmets. I also feel bad for the person at the front (facing back)- they can't see where they're going.
Looks like a lot of fun but the current price of 9,500 euro's which is currently $11,852 is a bit rich for me. There is also tax, duty, and shipping to be paid as well.
http://www.busyweather.com/
Puhleaze.. what a waste of money. I really want to be stuck on one of these things with a bunch of co-workers I cant stand most of the time. Yay.
You work at one of those .COM's don't you. I suspect well see that bike on e-Bay soon enough.
heh.
--Stupidity is Self Curing!
Even Slashdotters aren't that desperate.
If my answers frighten you, stop asking scary questions.
This thing needs a kegholder.
Writers imply. Readers infer.
this is excellent!
fred flinstone would be VERY proud!
Marge, get me your address book, 4 beers, and my conversation hat.
Great, now your shortsighted supervisor can not only run the company into the ground, but he can also crash the bike (which he will inevetably be steering) while you furiously peddle away.
Great. Just great.
Mod me Flamebait all you want, but that's about the dumbest thing I've ever seen.
I know nothing
There is a sudden rise in work-related injuries.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Is this the pinnacle of a stupid product?
A blog like any other.
I can't wait to see the first accident with that bike. CNN is reporting that "the Microsoft Board of Directors have been ran over by a semi during a meeting on how to destroy Linux. Police are searching for the hit and run driver. According to witnesses, the culprit was a penguin.
If this was Fark, the submission would have a Florida tag. I can't think of a more useless item than a 7 seater bike that goes nowhere -- except perhaps to serve as a reminder of how most corporate meetings function. One guy steers and everyone pedals like mad to get where they are going. My only question (and it's not apparent from the Slashad): Does this contraption have breaks, and if so, do they work properly?
The dangers of knowledge trigger emotional distress in human beings.
Am I the only one who noticed the utter lack of brakes on this thing?! Imagine when not just one person, not just two on a duo-bike, but 7 people crash at once! This should be the Carnage Bike, not Conference Bike !
Ummm. . . That's all I've got. Look at the thing. The answer is just "no".
Per Square Mile, a blog about density
that they made a CONFERENCE bike instead of a COMMITTEE bike. The committee bike would never have gone anywhere, except, maybe in a circle or spun in place.
If "disco" means "I learn" in Latin, does "discothèque" mean "I learn technology"?
They could use real text instead of images (you know, search engines, people with bad vision, faster download... "details without importance").
Those things have been going down 6th Avenue here in new york for the past year. There are regular rentals from Central park but only tourists use them. They are bright red and quite funny to look at. I don't think most new yorkers would be caught dead riding on one of those things... More than likely one of these tourist groups is going to get run over one day since they ride straight through traffic...
*clicks link*
Holy shit.. its the monkees on a weird bike.
Fire in the hands of the village idiot is no tool, but a weapon of mass destruction
Are they purposely trying to look like the Wiggles?
Yes, I have kids.
Forget the whales - save the babies.
So, you must work in some alternate reality where the .com bubble never burst, and companies are still trying to lure tech workers (who have more job opportunities than they can fill) by being fun and kooky and buying expensive toys.
I wish I had thought of that.
"You know why you do not see me styling wit my homies? Because I have no homies!!" -Mojo Jojo
Great, now we'll have all the "put the pedal to the metal" analogies in conferences.
Isn't it just like the corprate world to make you feel like a hamster by pedaling and not being able to go anywhere?
Corporate life -- no matter how hard you pedal, there will be a freeloading jackass getting somewhere due to YOUR efforts.
Does it have any room for TPS reports?
First guy to pull out a powerpoint presentation gets thrown off and left behind.
A meeting without coffee, donuts, nor other swag, nothing to motivate/bribe me into attending...and it's also exercise...possibly outdoors? Where do I sign up?
When in New York, I saw one of these contraptions rolling down the road.
It appeared to be part of some public transport system. I say that because someone got off and some guy (who didnt appear to be apart of the group) got on and they peddled off.
Amusing as it was too watch, I couldnt help but think about the driver who goes to court for seven counts of murder for not checking his blind spot.... then again... the gene pool does need a bit of a clean up.
The real way meetings work would be reflected in a bike as follows:
The wheels are arranged in a circle around the rim; all the bike can do is spin. The harder you pedal, the faster you spin, but you still end up going nowhere.
webpage
Only in America?
c on tact.htm
According to the website, they're based in the Netherlands
http://www.conferencebike.com/contact/frameset-
Very firmly in Europe!
When will cities be redesigned to accomodate this land vessel?
I prefer a void in conversation to a vacuous one.
If this contraption is supposed to convey the "meeting experience", shouldn't all the riders have their own steering wheel attached to their wheel, so it would end up spinning around in aimless circles with no obvious goal? At least that would bring it closer to how our meetings seem to end up...
Code, Hardware, stuff like that.
Get out of the office I can believe. Still get work done? I doubt it. Unless ``work'' is just having a good time together, it just isn't going to happen. Too many distractions, like the cars honking and zipping by, the smell from that cow orker who wouldn't have needed deodorant if you weren't all sweating in the hot sun, and on and on.
This sounds like a silly, expensive gimmick, so I'm not surprised to hear a business is buying one. Let me guess: it's a fair-sized corp, and the purchaser has pointy hair?
See what I've been reading.
"There are now 40 conferencebikes in the world"
Well, even Segway does better. Using a Segway made you look like an alien on wheels. Using this make you look a pack of dangerous fools.
"this thing will change your life"... already heard that before.
Besides this, do they care of people using PDAs or lynx ?
They're also not allowed in if they're not wearing perfume and willing to pose for a picture that looks like the makings of a mechanical orgy.
Oh wait. Did I say conference?
The key difference between a Programmer and a Senior Programmer is that one of them is Mexican.
Assuming that you have access to a place with lots of wide, smooth paths with no hills and gentle turns. And no pedestrians.
Better get someone out front to direct traffic, too. The person who is doing the steering has the whole bike and three people sitting right in front of them, I don't imagine they have much of a view.
I am NOT a man!
I am a free number!
Yeah, I'm thinking the SUV's of bicycles.
I'm waiting for seven fat fuckers going down one of those badass hills in SF to find out that the brakes simply can't cope.
I dream in binary.
Those people are not wearing suits...they are wearing something u see clowns ware in the circus. all they need is some makeup and a big red nose..
I'm sure it will be a real ice breaker at the next company meeting when the two people riding backwards puke on their coworkers!
It's a ConferenceTrike, duh. *sigh*
I'm suprised nobody's asked where the documents, laptops, conference phone or network connection is?
Those are the things you use in conferences, not a lame bike.
we really need a -1 dumbass option
From the link: ...lights up smiling...It lowers inhibitions...it's a party on wheels...
Buy a 12 pack and drive around. Same effect.
But I decided against posting it here because it was so stupid. I guess others have no such compunctions...
"You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
Here is yet another good reason to stop outsourcing.
The person who made this probably lost their job and is just sitting around thinking of lame ass ideas like this one waiting for another job to come around.
In all seriousness, this bike blows harder than a $5 crack whore.
Corporate Japan would love this. People take
company vacations there, sing company songs,
and so on. I can just imagine a bunch of
Japanese people, dressed in suits, pedaling
along on one of these.
This is great... when executives meet to figure out ways to drive the company over a cliff, they can also do it literally.
If this was Fark, you, mfh, would be the douchebag n00b who submits a retarded Ackbar-trap photoshop every time, because it "had to be done, haha." Fuck you, you fucktwit Herbert.
If it were padded all around, and there were other idential bikes with other riders, it would make one heck of a bumper-bike game.
Neil is that you? Yeah yeah, it's me... Neil...
All the people on the bike are female.
Some people are peddling at different rates than other people on the bike.
Only the person steering seemed to have any control over how fast the bike goes.
hrmm, interesting sales pitch. So instead of one blind person endagering him/herself, it's better for group of blind people to?
The Irish are a clever bunch...
I'm a blind Irishman you insensitive clod!
When I first heard Conference Bike, this is what I thought of:
Have the PowerPoint Projector powered solely by a stationary bike wired as a generator. If you have a long presentation, you had better be in really good shape. If nobody has a presentation, the person calling the conference has to pedal the bike.
I'd bet a lot less meetings would be called, and they would be a lot shorter. Asking stupid questions would make enemies real fast.
The conference bike that would fit our team well would need 7 steering wheels and only one pedle because there are more people trying to direct us and much less than that doing the work. It should have 3 gears (-1, -2 and -3) and, well, let us be honest, breaks would never be used so they can be omitted.
Magic Eight Ball: Outlook not so good., Hmmm, how about Excel and Word?
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
"One person steers, while everyone is free to pedal or not as the bike moves effortlessly along."
I predict this bike will suffer the same problem that arises when working in teams...someone gets the bright idea that they can "ride on the success of others" and simply not pedal. Thus, everyone else has to bear the load of the additional deadweight. Imagine if only one person actually did the pedaling...I'll be it won't be so effortless then!
I couldn't get a good look at the gear mechanism, but it also seems possible that someone could apply forces to the pedals "backwards" and make it harder for everyone else, thus forming a true model of what can happen in actual conferences.
A conference bike:
Everyone gets along fine
But looks like a twat!
I really wanted to see them crash at the end of the movie.
Thank god for small favors. It's bad enough they can import these things, at least they aren't made here and weren't designed here! We've got enough problems...
This product was clearly Not developed with the average American in mind... the seats aren't nearly big enough.
Michalangelo Progr
Wow! Everybody is talking up what a wildly *stupid* idea this is, and I've seen very little mention of the fact it costs 9500 Euros! (Someone suggested 10000 pounds, which isn't right...more like 6500 pounds sterling or so, if I've got my head on right this morning.)
You can buy a lot of coke & whores for 10000 Euros.
I don't know if it has breaks, but do you have a spell checker?
Finally, an excuse to buy a hummer.
grammar-lesson free since 1999. (rescinded - 2005)
He doesn't HAVE to have a reason, the fact that it's dumb is self-evident! I mean look at it! It literally oozes with weapons-grade dumb!
Brain kills internet cells.
Tricycle -- Trike
This thing has three wheels, therefore it is really the conference trike.
I also think "conference trike" more than adequately describes the mentality of the group on one, as well.
just filter your search to give humorous comments a -5, that'll fix all the problems you have with your poor sense of humor!
Turning 5 lanes freeways into 1 lane.
My comment was in response to someone mentioning use of one at the boardwalk of CA. CA is too crowded for a small bike, more or less a huge one.
Some asshole out there would purchase this bike and ride it himself, just so he could take up the entire sidewalk and part of the street.
I think it's a competition, to see who can be the biggest asshole without breaking the rules (because you'll be sued).
They're not completely without risk of course, for the inherent combination of drinking and driving. I have actually seen someone getting badly hurt, falling off one of these.
Have Linux installed at your place in Amsterdam, for cheap
my sims totally need this. i can just see the green +s flying about their heads already.
Just watch that video imagining all of em having a toke with the bong in the center!
Remember when recreation meant escape from the physical or mental pressures of work? So that one could re-create oneself?
Now, thanks to modern technology and ingenuity, you can't even recreate without bringing your work with you, at least if you buy this overpriced contraption.
Don't you dare mod this as funny, since recreation is as essential to life as food and air, only the effects of a lack of recreation are more difficult to discern and take longer to manifest.
This really pisses me off...I'm gonna go ride my bike now!
slashdot: A failed experiment.
If I knew I had to show up for a meeting with one of those contraptions I'd appear wearing all my mountain bike gear - clipless pedal shoes, helmet, camelbak, shorts the works. I'd be all hammering away furiously and leaning back trying to pull wheelies and just making it go way too fast for everyone else. I'd be fired for sure!
They had these all over New York when I was there a few weeks ago. They were offering NY tours on em. The more people who rode, the less your cost...they wouldn't taxi us down 10 blocks though. :-(
I work in Times Square and take NJ Transity from the PABT everydau home. This week I saw someone riding this bike on 8th Ave while I was on 8th and 44th (they were going uptown) 2 times both around 6:15 pm. It looked cool and he was on it by himself both times and wasn't having a problem pedaling it. But, it was a pain being in the street, it took a whole up and is a lot harder to move around than a regular bike.
Posted at memepool on Friday, Aug2, 2002.
Yeah, the connotations embodied by this bike are amazing.. 6 people pedaling, one person steering. The one person steering is the only one who really can see where they're going...
Great conditioning I guess.
~Anztac
I can't wait till they come out with a pimped out version or at least spinners...
this has already been covered on slashdot under "worse bonus ever"
i d= 4895374
http://ask.slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=48066&c
notice the rating of only 1?
Bring lotion.
I'm waiting for seven fat fuckers going down one of those badass hills in SF to find out that the brakes simply can't cope.
That sounds remarkably like a dotcom I worked for...
94% of Repubs and 21% of Dems voted to renew the Patriot Act
Also, each person gets their own horn to toot.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
There was a segment on one of the day-time shows a couple months ago. But it was a "Party" bike. Looks like a company in the US has been "pedaling' them for a while (sorry I could not resist). Though they aren't selling them per-se, rather using them as tourist gimic (which several New York readers have already pointed out.)
-MS2K
How much is that in US dollars ? Sorry - just curious.
How many beans make five, anyhow ?
I was thinking I shouldn't say too much, I could be one of the riders myself ;>
I dream in binary.
Odd how the video doesn't show anyone wearing a helmet
May I know how a helmet may help? Do you expect falling off the bike? Or do you expect his bike to fall over or something? You should remember that in Holland the terrain is rather flat.
I really don't get all these negative responses here, but maybe I'm missing something obvious.
Here's a mirror.
On my first ever visit to Amsterdam, I was sat with a group of friends smoking a particularly potent joint out of the front of one of many coffee shops in the city. I'd had a few and was feeling in good spirits, and was starting to get the occasional weird sensation.. and then I looked up to see one of those things trundle past loaded with people.. quite a strange feeling, followed by loud laughter when I found out I wasn't seeing things :)
"Hey! Unless this is a nude love-in, get the hell off my property!!"
It looked different, so I snapped it with my EOS-300D: www.james.rcpt.to/2004/newyork/IMG_3876-p.html
9,500.00 EUR = 11,854.55 USD as of today.
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
I am a big fan of bicycles. They are fun, healthy transportation. But I don't want to share my bike. I don't even like tandems, get your own bike woman! I can't think of anything more dangerous or less fun than this thing. Is it really a good idea to have a detailed conversation while you ride a bike? And yes, wear a helmet. A headfirst fall from just a standing position is enough to kill you.
Crushing my karma one post at a time.
Great invention, horrible shirts.
Two reasons:
1) Now you can get pissed off at your cow-orkers for not pulling their weight both in the office and on the bike
2) Try not getting fired when you accidentally steer your entire team, including your boss and his boss, into a tree
I saw something similar to this in the netherlands a couple years ago...
It was a bar (served liquor). People sat at the bar and pedalled. The bar tender steered in the centre and served drinks.
Damn funny.... I even have a pic, but don't have a place to post it.
I tried out one of these at a transport show, run by the Company of Cyclists. Absolutely brilliant fun! It can almost turn on the spot, very fast. Very impractical for everyday use, but enormous fun.
Barrowwright (OK, so I *might* have crawled out from under a rock. Is that a problem?)